New Delhi, March 20 : Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 15.29 lakh net subscribers during the month of January, 2022 indicating uptick in the formal job market. Month-on-month comparison of payroll data shows an increase of 2.69 lakh net subscribers addition in January as compared to the net additions during the previous month of December, 2021. “Of the total 15.29 lakh net subscribers added during the month, around 8.64 lakh new members have been registered under the social security ambit of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. Approximately 6.65 lakh net subscribers exited but re-joined EPFO by continuing their membership with EPFO instead of opting for final withdrawal,” Labour Ministry said in a release on Sunday. Age-wise comparison of payroll data shows that the age-group of 18-25 years has registered the highest number of net enrolments with 6.90 lakh additions during January, 2022 accounting for about 45 per cent of total net subscribers addition during the month. This is followed by the age-group of 29-35 years with a healthy addition of around 3.23 lakh net enrolments. “This indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers and signifies a crucial stage for an individual’s potential in terms of earning capacity,” the Ministry said. State-wise comparison of payroll figures highlights that the establishments covered in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are in lead by adding around 9.33 lakh subscribers or 61 per cent of total net payroll addition across all age groups during the month. As per the official data, share of female enrolment was about 21 per cent of the total net subscribers addition during the month of January, 2022 with an increase of 57,722 net enrolments over the previous month of December, 2021. “Industry-wise payroll data indicates that ‘expert services’ category (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc.) constitutes 39.95 per cent of total subscriber addition during the month. In addition, growing trend in net payroll additions has been noted in industries like Expert Services, Engineering Contractors, Trading (Commercial Establishments) and Building & Construction industry etc,” the Labour Ministry said. The Ministry noted that payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise. NK